When There Are No Words: “Translating” from the Heart

September 08, 2011

Although most of our blogs have focused on the importance of
appropriate text content for language translation services
projects, there are rare occasions where words are of no use. We
are not referring to cases where you may find a "picture menu" in a
foreign land. How do you communicate when you find yourself the
only person in a group of travelers who speaks your language? What
tools do you have to make yourself understood, if even the local
alphabet, is all "Greek" to you?

I found myself in just such a situation many moons ago, before I
entered the translation and localization industry. I was surprised
at how "fluent" communications without words can become over a
3-day period on a train. Memories of this experience have helped me
to appreciate how our basic human desire to communicate effectively
comes into play in the language translation process. As this blog
reveals, it is astonishing how much information we can convey with
no words or vocabulary.

Beyond language translation

Obviously, text and words are the most dominant elements of most
content in language
translation services projects. The bulk of GPI's blogs deal
with the many issues that can cause unexpected surprises in
translating text. In some cases, even copywriting is appropriate in
order to create a slightly different message to suit the needs of a
new locale.

Graphics
and images are equally important. Many of GPI's blogs have touched
on how there are times when it may be appropriate to substitute
images or even colors in website translation to effectively reach a
new global audience. But, symbols and gestures can create
an "ad hoc" language on the spot when necessary.

Imitating the ancient Phoenicians

In the 1980s I had a "dream" vacation which started with
a trans-Atlantic cruise and culminated with a tour of Athens. I had
several friends in London and thought that it would be an adventure
to take a train trip from Athens through Eastern Europe, then
Germany. The tracks would end in Belgium, where I could take a
ferry to England and see the White Cliffs of Dover as my first
glimpse of the UK.

My travel agent didn't do her research, and booked my passage on
a Greek/Yugoslav train that was described as something akin to the
"Orient Express." I was to have a private "suite" and access to the
"Dining Car." Before boarding in Athens, I started to get a bit
nervous when I noticed I was the only passenger boarding without
3-day supply of food and other provisions.

The "suite" was a closet-sized chamber with a narrow bunk bed,
and the "dining car" was non-existent. I had one candy bar to last
for 3 days. Within the first hour I discovered that neither
passengers nor crew spoke or understood a word of English, nor any
Latin-based language. (I was semi-fluent in
the Spanish language and could limp through Italian.) Although
several passengers or crew were fluent in
the Greek language, or in
the Slovenian language and other tongues of the Balkans, we had
no words or phrases in common.

Suddenly, I knew how the ancient Phoenicians may have felt when
landing on unexplored Mediterranean shores, where the root of the
local language was impossibly distant from their own.

We can all use our basic instinct to communicate

A few of the Greek soldiers on board took pity on me, and
shared some of their bread and cheese for the first night. One
young man drew a crude map of the USA, a star where Chicago should
be and a stick-figure of a woman dressed as a bride. I eventually
figured out that it was his sister. The floodgates of communication
opened up at that point, because we were both communicating about
something that mattered: family. Within hours, with no language in
common, we had become "friends."

I had a tradeshow give-away ballpoint pen, which I gave to him;
it might have been the crown jewels. When we came to train
stations, the young Greek took pains to tick off the minutes on his
wrist watch to show me how many minutes we had (usually 15.) I did
have some Greek money, so I was able to buy food (mostly fruit and
local produce) at colorful stops along the way, including Sofia and
Belgrade. Much of the rural landscape dotted with peasant villages
along the way seemed unchanged since the 1840s. It was literally a
trip back in time.

This was no tourist train, and it was clear that many of
the locals in train stations along the way had never met an
American before. Although I didn't understand a word that they
said, it was clear that the people at each train station wanted me
to have a favorable impression of their land. Hand gestures made it
clear that there were many offers of "free" food or drink. I
insisted on paying. When there was time, I always drew a map of
California with a star for San Francisco and a cartoon of the
Golden Gate Bridge. Each native would exclaim in a heavy accent,
"Awwww, Sohn Frahn-seee-sko!"

How much can be learned without words

I could have left it at that, just making a few cartoons for
food and the essentials and then have shut myself up in my monk's
cell on wheels. But I craved companionship as much as anyone. Soon
there was a cadre of Greek soldiers and some Serbians joining me
for 3 days in a daily circle to try to communicate about just
"anything." It was amazing how much we understood from one another,
without words.

Before long, I felt like I had a family, even though I was
isolated and alone on a language level.

When I changed trains in Munich, my Greek soldier followed me to
the other platform. He touched his heart, he touched my heart and
then he pointed to the sky. "Go with God." It couldn't be clearer.
In fact, words might have diminished that moment. He knew my name
was Max. I knew his name was "Leftos." Everything else we knew
about one another had no words. After 3 days, without a word in
common, we "knew" each other. I don't know if I had ever felt
closer to a friend before that moment.

Grandmother-to-Grandmother: the ultimate communication

A few years
later, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall, I had a 5 ½ hour
non-stop flight from New York to San Francisco. An ancient Russian
grandmother boarded, with her food/provisions in a basket. She
didn't speak a word of anything other than Russian, looked
terrified, and I flashed back to my experience on that Greek
train.

The crew had made an announcement asking if anyone on board
spoke Russian, because the poor lady was refusing food service; she
thought she had to pay for it. I was prepared to change seats with
her seat mate, and use my "wordless" skills acquired on a Greek
train, when an unexpected event solved the problem. The lady next
to the confused Russian passenger dropped her wallet. When the
Russian grandmother picked up the wallet, an accordion string of
photos unfurled, revealing various shots of all of the other lady's
grandchildren.

A broad smile beamed across the Russian lady's face, and she
soon went into a series of spontaneous gestures, and a few hand
drawn "cartoons" to figure out whether her seat mate had sons or
daughters, and where they lived. The seat mate cleverly drew a
picture of a Christmas present, with a plate of airline food coming
out of it (e.g. "the food is free, a gift") and the lady from
Russia "got it." Communications continued through her worry-free
meal.

A highly animated, yet "wordless", conversation continued across
the rest of the continent.

They were fast friends by the time we landed, neither speaking a
word of the other's language. In baggage claim, I saw the Russian
grandmother reunited with her family. She held the hand of her seat
mate and proudly introduced her new "best friend" to her
family.

We are always translating, whether we know it or not

What is the point of all this? Not a trip down memory lane. In
two instances, I saw evidence that, stripped of any common words,
alphabets or vocabulary, we can successfully communicate to a high
degree. This is not a substitute for language translation in the
business world! But these experiences are a potent reminder that we
all have the ability to define the intent of our message, "from the
heart", and find the best way to communicate it.

The stick figures on airline napkins or crudely drawn maps
described in this blog are the rough equivalents to an appropriate
image selected for
website translation, which will convey your message effectively
to a new locale or audience.

Turn within to where you can find your best communication
skills. Within your heart. Find the message that will "connect"
with your new, non-English speaking audience first. Then put your
fingers on the keyboard. Your content will practically write
itself!

Summary

There are many languages in which you may find yourself "at a
loss for words." Chinese is just one such language. Chinese is a
rich language, layered with many meanings. The use of idioms or
Chinese proverbs can enhance your message for the Chinese
marketplace. Sentence and paragraph structure in well-formed
Chinese may be starkly different than your source language
materials. All of these issues must be carefully considered by your
translation
services agency or localization partner. Highly qualified
Chinese linguists with an up-to-date grasp of current connotations
associated with popular Chinese words are essential to successful
Chinese copywriting and Chinese translation and localization.

Chinese market and language resources

For general issues related to Simplified Chinese, visit our
webpage on
Simplified Chinese Translation Quick Facts. To further explore
issues specific to Chinese translation and Chinese localization you
may wish to review two of our previous blogs:

Comments

On Sep 13, Ferenc Kovacs said:Language (verbal, "natural") is a recent tool. Communication dates back to the origin of life. Social animals must communicate to cooperate Check out Bee dance to see ho they communicate with their bodied. If no lingua franca is available, we do the same, and also use pinting.tihu

Daniela Bustamante - Director: Global Production ServicesDaniela has over 16 years' experience in the translation, localization and language instruction professions. She holds a degree in Sworn, Literary, Technical, and Scientific Translation from the Instituto Nacional de Enseñanza Superior Olga Cossettini in Rosario, Argentina. Starting her career as a translator for English-Spanish/Spanish-English in 1990 over the years she has worked for several Localization Agencies as a translator, assistant project manager and senior project manager. She has completed a wide range of professional certifications in document and website localization with emphasis on translation, budgeting, quality control and project management including The Localization Institute’s Triple Certification in Localization Project Management (Localization Institute Chico, CA, USA). She has managed a wide variety of document, website, software and audio-video localization projects utilizing different Translation Management Systems (TMS), Translation Memory (TM) and I18n and L10n tool suites.